Affleck calls for Congo help

Updated 23.09 Thu Nov 20 2008

Keywords: UN peacekeeping, camp, internally displaced people, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ben Affleck

Hollywood actor Ben Affleck has been visiting a camp for internally displaced people in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

It is the fourth time he has visited the country in the past year to see first hand one of the world's worst humanitarian crises this century.

"Having visited a number of the camps here I can personally attest to the tremendous suffering, and on-going fighting here is only exacerbating that" - Ben Affleck

"There are a million displaced persons here. There are a number of people suffering needlessly," Affleck said.

"Having visited a number of the camps here, I can personally attest to the tremendous suffering, and on-going fighting here is only exacerbating that.

"It's not something that we as human beings can, in good conscience, ignore."

Meanwhile, the United Nations confirmed that hundreds of rebel forces have pulled back from three front lines in eastern DRC, as aid workers scramble to reach more of the 300,000 hungry, exhausted people displaced by the fighting.

A UN peacekeeping spokesman called the move a positive step.